Between Spanish Meals in Vegas: Lotus of Siam

Chef Jose Andres has three restaurants in The Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas.  We ate at two of them - Jaleo and é - in March of 2013.  We could have eaten at the third one, China Roblano, but the idea of a Spanish rendition of Chinese-Mexican fusion food was too bizarre for me.  Two weeks later, our friends Arufa and M reported that their meal at China Roblano was excellent.  The steamed BBQ pork buns there had the fluffiest texture, and the taco with deep-fried slow cooked beef tendon and Kumamoto oyster was sublime.  Wow, who would have thought of tendon and oyster together in a taco?  We have missed out on that place, though we did eat two Asian lunches between our Spanish dinners.

*  *  *

Our taxi took us from the Strip and its glam to Lotus of Siam (LOS from here on) in a local area that could not be any plainer.  The driver would have missed the restaurant if I had not spotted its name in green plastic letters bundling up on the back wall of a dreary strip mall.  The Thai restaurant was in plain sight once the taxi pulled into the huge and empty-looking parking lot.  From the outside LOS did not look much.  It was hard to imagine that this was one of the most popular and highly regarded eateries of Las Vegas.

Lotus of Siam

Even though the mall looked deserted, LOS was packed inside.  We were lucky to get a small table right away.  Soon a larger table for four opened up and our friendly waiter moved us over without hassle in spite of people waiting at the reception.  We ordered five items from the menu and two different glasses of German Riesling.  Our waiter warned us that some of our dishes would take a while because the kitchen was busy with making food for the popular lunch buffet.  He also made sure that we knew that the wines were sweet. 

It did not take long for tod mun plar (deep fried fish cake) and pork satay to arrive.  The fish cakes at LOS were seasoned with curry paste and they did not contain chopped long beans.  Their texture was on the firm side.  As my knowledge of Thai food was next to nothing, I had no idea whether the LOS version was any more traditional than the bouncy fluffy turmeric yellow ones that I had in the past.  The pork was marinated with fresh herbs and spices, grilled and served with peanut sauce.  The slightly charred meat was juicy and tender.  We liked both starters and finished them in no time.

tod mun plar

pork satay

 Mrs. A could not resist the classic tom yum koong soup.  The watery clear broth with shrimps and straw mushrooms was packed with flavor - sour (lime), hot (chili), spicy (galangal), aromatic (lemon grass, kaffir lime leaf) and umami (fish sauce, shrimp).  It whetted our appetite for what to come. 

Squid sautéed in garlic, cilantro and chili pepper sauce had a wonderful flavor.  But we were disappointed that the squid pieces were chewy.  They were not the tender Monterey Bay squids that we were used to.  

garlic squid

Our last dish was crispy duck on drunken noodle.  Hidden at the bottom of the plate was a small heap of pan-fried wide flat rice noodle (why the name “drunken noodle” is unclear to me as there is no alcohol involved in its preparation).  The noodle was completely covered by duck slices.  The meat tasted like Cantonese roasted duck, but the skin was crisp from deep frying.  A liberal amount of Thai basil, chili and salad leaves in a refreshing Thai dressing transformed the meat and noodle into a complex and satisfying dish.  The generous portion was also filling.  

crispy duck drunken noodle

Mrs. A finished her meal with an individual serving of fried banana and coconut ice cream.  We could not be happier with our leisure lunch.  Our wines paired well with the delicious food, our efficient waiters were polite and friendly despite the lunch rush, and the price was right. 

I have to mention that LOS has a superb 51-page wine list.  Its cellar has a large selection of German wine (over 150 Rieslings and 14 by the glass) as well as fine Old and New World red and white.  The selection is particularly amazing for an Asian restaurant.  The wines are very reasonable priced.  If I lived in or near Las Vegas, I would go to LOS regularly for its food and wine.

*  *  *

For dim sum lunch I selected a Chinese restaurant based on reviews and photos on the online review website Yelp!   The restaurant, which will remain unnamed, was not quite half filled when we arrived.  That was not bad for a place in a drab area away from the Strip on a weekday.  The four ladies pushing dim sum carts were enthusiastic in selling us their food.  One of them even offered us a taste of the pan fried rice noodle rolls.  Unfortunately the food and the tea were mediocre.  A manager wandered around the dining room the whole time doing nothing and for sure not attending to the diners.  Our anemic waiter was inattentive and impersonal.  Upon paying our bill, he just walked away with the money in silence without any expression.  What a contrast in service between this place and LOS.   The poor dim sum lunch was very inexpensive; the taxi fare to the restaurant and back cost twice as much as the lunch.